"At this point, unless you can give up everything, escape from the capital, and are willing to live an anonymous life from now on, otherwise, you have no way out of this blind competition!" Looking at the silent Yan Liqiang, Ji Xiaoyao shook his head slightly.
"I'm afraid I can't escape now even if I want to. Since the other party has already planned everything, how could they not expect that I might retreat again? Maybe they have spies watching me outside the Deer Garden at this moment. As soon as I run, they will know immediately. Moreover, if I run away, the emperor will not let me go, and my old father will also be implicated by me. So, just like what you said, Master, I have no way to retreat now, and I can only bite the bullet and go on!"
Yan Liqiang smiled bitterly, "Now it seems that I imagined the situation in the Imperial Capital City to be too simple. Everything is my own fault. I can't blame anyone else. I just felt that I was a small figure. Even if I stood on the side of the emperor, the other party would not have time to care about me for the time being. Now it seems that it is possible that when I followed Lord Sun back to the Imperial Capital City, I had already fallen into the eyes of the other party. When I first arrived in the Imperial Capital City to escort Lord Sun to the palace, the first provocation in the classroom was a signal. The conflict was completely intensified during the three-court trial that day. So the other party caught the prince's archery instructor and wanted to kill me openly and honestly, leaving me with no way to retreat!"
“The thing that kills the most people in this world is not swords, spears or poisons, but the word power!” Ji Xiaoyao sighed softly, looking at the floating clouds in the sky. “This Imperial Capital City is a huge power millstone, from the mountains and rivers of the entire Han Empire to the ordinary people and even the city foxes and rats in the Imperial Capital City. Anyone involved in it will never be able to stay out of it. If they are not careful, they will be crushed to pieces and become the ghosts under the knife of the word power. The fierceness of the power struggle in the Imperial Capital City is far beyond your imagination. This is also the reason why the master and Li Hongtu have been living in seclusion in Luyuan. Although the two of us had to stay in the Imperial Capital City because of some things in the past, we didn’t want to be involved in the vortex of the power struggle in the Imperial Capital City. You rushed in rashly and thought you were fine, but you didn’t know that you had already been calculated by others. I thought you were in Luyuan and could temporarily stay away from the vortex of the Imperial Capital City, but I didn’t expect you to be involved so soon!”
"Master, did you know that this day would come? That's why you were so decisive when teaching me skills, as if you were racing against time, afraid that I would be involved before I even learn the skills?" Yan Liqiang reacted all at once and understood why Li Hongtu and Ji Xiaoyao were so decisive when teaching him things before. Li Hongtu didn't say anything, as on the first day of his apprenticeship, he taught him all the secrets of practicing real skills. The same was true for Ji Xiaoyao. Since Yan Liqiang's first visit, not a single word of what Ji Xiaoyao taught him was redundant.
"That's right. Master and Li Hongtu were good friends back then. We both studied the art of physiognomy together. When Master saw you for the first time that day, he found that you were upright and righteous. You must be an upright and resolute person, definitely not a treacherous person. In addition, you have a unique bone structure and infinite power. You are a natural martial arts genius, capable of inheriting Master's legacy and unique skills. That's why Master and Li Hongtu taught you everything they knew the moment they saw you. Don't be careful that you are teaching the wrong person!"
"I see!" Yan Liqiang looked at Ji Xiaoyao with a guilty look on his face, "I always thought that the two masters taught me skills just because of those two signs..."
"Do you think that with the two badges given to you by the eunuch surnamed Liu, you can make Master and Li Hongtu teach you all their hidden skills as soon as they see you? If those two badges have such a great effect and can bring out the real skills of Master and Li Hongtu, I am afraid it will not be your turn to learn. There are many people in the royal family. If someone else comes with those two badges, even if Master and Li Hongtu have to teach because of the original promise, what they teach will definitely not be the things you can learn now. How can it be so straightforward..."
After hearing Ji Xiaoyao's words, Yan Liqiang immediately knelt down in front of Ji Xiaoyao again, kowtowed three times, and greeted Ji Xiaoyao again, "Master, please accept your disciple Yan Liqiang's greetings! I didn't know your painstaking efforts before, please punish me."
Yan Liqiang's previous two visits to become a disciple were just formalities, but now that he knew the inside story and looked at Ji Xiaoyao again, Yan Liqiang began to regard Ji Xiaoyao and Li Hongtu as his mentors from the bottom of his heart.
"Get up. Your master and Li Hongtu never thought that we would meet a disciple like you while living in seclusion in Luyuan. I guess this is God's will. God couldn't bear to see our unique skills lost, so he asked you to come to Luyuan!" Ji Xiaoyao gently helped Yan Liqiang up.
"Master, you two are living in seclusion in Deer Park and have not left the Imperial Capital. Is it because of His Majesty the Emperor?"
"That's right!" Ji Xiaoyao nodded. "My teacher and Li Hongtu owed His Majesty a huge favor back then, so we made some promises and stayed here. The inside story cannot be explained in a few words. Anyway, this is the current situation. Before the crown prince officially ascends the throne, we will not leave the Imperial Capital, but His Majesty cannot order us to do anything we don't want to do. We are living in peace!"
“So that’s how it is!”
"Now that we have come to this, Li Qiang, remember an advice from your master. No matter how good his majesty is to you and how much he values you, you and he are not the same kind of people. He is the king of a country. As a king, he rules over the world and can still fight with the prime minister and survive until now. He is definitely not a simple person. In his position, he only has the eternal kingdom of the Han Empire in his eyes, and everything within this kingdom is a pawn and a tool in his hands." Ji Xiaoyao looked at Yan Liqiang with a solemn expression.
"Thank you for your advice, Master!" Yan Liqiang nodded, a complicated look flashing across his face. "Although I don't know why, I also feel that this blind match was deliberately promoted by His Majesty. His Majesty seems to be very willing to see me and that Shi Minzhang have a life-and-death battle..."
"You are not in his position, so you will never know what he is thinking. What is a matter of life and death to you may have other purposes and meanings in the eyes of others. Your life and death is not what those people really care about!"
Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and said, "I understand. I will be careful this time!"
"If being careful is useful, there will be no more people dying in vain in this world. Li Hongtu asked you to come to me today, probably because he wanted you to practice with me before the blind competition, so that you can be more confident!" Ji Xiaoyao said, and he stood up. "Let's go, let's go to the bamboo forest. These few days, before you compete with Shi Minzhang, you should compete with me first..."
(End of this chapter)